A typical intermodal container is a standardized steel box. These containers are used to move materials and products from ship, to rail, and to truck without unloading and reloading the contents of the container. A typical container has doors at one end, and at each of the corners there are castings for receiving locking fasteners. The locking fasteners are used to secure the container during handling and transit.
When the containers are transported by truck, the drivers are responsible to confirm that the bottom four corners of the container are properly secured to the chassis of the truck by locking fasteners. A locking fastener can include a locking rod that slides into an opening of the casting at the corner of the container and a locking lever that is forced down over a handle of the locking rod. The locking fastener can also be a twist lock that slides into a bottom opening of the casting and twists 90 degrees. In addition, drivers are required to secure each locking fastener in place with a zip tie to ensure that they will not jiggle loose. Often, a driver must secure a zip tie at night or in inclement weather. The tight confines of the locations of the locking fasteners make it difficult to confirm that a zip tie has been properly secured through a locking fastener. It is critical that a zip tie be properly secured to prevent the locking fastener from coming loose. If one or more corners of a container were to become loose, the container could slide laterally across and off the supporting chassis of the truck, causing significant damage. A shortcoming of the related prior art is the inefficiency and difficulty of installing the zip ties needed to ensure that that locking fasteners do not come loose. Accordingly, a multi-purpose tool for securing locking fasteners quickly and precisely in all conditions is needed. Despite significant recent advancements in this area, further improvements are possible.